New Majority Stakeholders to Support Growth and Development

MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense have completed the acquisition of ArianeGroup’s 63% stake in CILAS, acting through HMS Laser, a company specifically constituted for the acquisition, the companies announced on 2 November.

CILAS, established in 1966, designs, develops, produces and sells laser products and optical solutions for military and civil applications. The new majority stakeholders will support CILAS’ growth and continued development and production of solutions intended to support French sovereignty and strategic independence, simultaneously facilitating the company’s European positioning and export opportunities.

“CILAS is the French laser technology champion,” explained Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA. “Today’s weapon systems increasingly call on latest-generation lasers, and this trend is likely to continue. By combining the complementary strengths of CILAS and MBDA, we will meet the upcoming challenges for France and Europe of achieving operational superiority and strategic independence”.

Martin Sion, CEO of Safran Electronics & Defense, added, “CILAS is a long-standing partner to our company. Our complementary optronics capabilities will enable us to develop and refine our solutions involving laser designation, while also investigating the possibilities of optical
communications for both terrestrial and space applications. We can now team up with CILAS and our partner MBDA to offer sovereignty solutions that integrate power lasers, by calling on our respective areas of expertise”.